Epidemiologic evaluation of Nhanes for environmental Factors and periodontal disease.

Periodontitis is a chronic inflammation that destroys periodontal tissues caused by the accumulation of bacterial biofilms that can be affected by environmental factors. This report describes an association study to evaluate the relationship of environmental factors to the expression of periodontitis using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES) from 1999-2004. A wide range of environmental variables (156) were assessed in patients categorized for periodontitis (n = 8884). Multiple statistical approaches were used to explore this dataset and identify environmental variable patterns that enhanced or lowered the prevalence of periodontitis. Our findings indicate an array of environmental variables were different in periodontitis in smokers, former smokers, or non-smokers, with a subset of specific environmental variables identified in each population subset. Discriminating environmental factors included blood levels of lead, phthalates, selected nutrients, and PCBs. Importantly, these factors were found to be coupled with more classical risk factors (i.e. age, gender, race/ethnicity) to create a model that indicated an increased disease prevalence of 2-4 fold across the sample population. Targeted environmental factors are statistically associated with the prevalence of periodontitis. Existing evidence suggests that these may contribute to altered gene expression and biologic processes that enhance inflammatory tissue destruction

Epidemiologic Evaluation of Nhanes for Environmental Factors and Periodontal Disease

Periodontitis is a chronic inflammation that destroys periodontal tissues caused by the accumulation of bacterial biofilms that can be affected by environmental factors. This report describes an association study to evaluate the relationship of environmental factors to the expression of periodontitis using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES) from 1999–2004. A wide range of environmental variables (156) were assessed in patients categorized for periodontitis (n = 8884). Multiple statistical approaches were used to explore this dataset and identify environmental variable patterns that enhanced or lowered the prevalence of periodontitis. Our findings indicate an array of environmental variables were different in periodontitis in smokers, former smokers, or non-smokers, with a subset of specific environmental variables identified in each population subset. Discriminating environmental factors included blood levels of lead, phthalates, selected nutrients, and PCBs. Importantly, these factors were found to be coupled with more classical risk factors (i.e. age, gender, race/ethnicity) to create a model that indicated an increased disease prevalence of 2–4 fold across the sample population. Targeted environmental factors are statistically associated with the prevalence of periodontitis. Existing evidence suggests that these may contribute to altered gene expression and biologic processes that enhance inflammatory tissue destruction

Thinking the future of membranes: Perspectives for advanced and new membrane materials and manufacturing processes

The state-of-the-art of membrane technology is characterized by a number of mature applications such as sterile filtration, hemodialysis, water purification and gas separation, as well as many more niche applications of successful membrane-based separation and processing of fluid mixtures. The membrane industry is currently employing a portfolio of established materials, mostly standard polymers or inorganic materials (not originally developed for membranes), and easily scalable manufacturing processes such as phase inversion, interfacial polymerization and coating. Innovations in membranes and their manufacturing processes must meet the desired intrinsic properties that determine selectivity and flux, for specific applications. However, tunable and stable performance, as well as sustainability over the entire life cycle of membrane products are becoming increasingly important. Membrane manufacturers are progressively required to share the carbon footprint of their membrane modules with their customers. Environmental awareness among the world's population is a growing phenomenon and finds its reflection in product development and manufacturing processes. In membrane technology one can see initial steps in this direction with the replacement of hazardous solvents, the utilization of renewable materials for membrane production and the reuse of membrane modules. Other examples include increasing the stability of organic membrane polymers and lowering the cost of inorganic membranes. In a long-term perspective, many more developments in materials science will be required for making new, advanced membranes. These include "tools" such as self-assembly or micro- and nano-fabrication, and "building blocks", e.g. tailored block copolymers or 1D, 2D and 3D materials. Such membranes must be fabricated in a simpler manner and be more versatile than existing ones. In this perspective paper, a vision of such LEGO (R)-like membranes with precisely adjustable properties will be illustrated with, where possible, examples that already demonstrate feasibility. These include the possibility to switch properties using an external stimulus, adapting a membrane's selectivity to a given separation, or providing the ability to assemble, disassemble and reassemble the membrane on a suitable support as scaffold, in situ, in place and on-demand. Overall, it is foreseen that the scope of future membrane applications will become much wider, based on improved existing membrane materials and manufacturing processes, as well as the combination of novel, tailor-made "building blocks" and "tools" for the fabrication of next-generation membranes tuned to specific applications

Wealth and demography in Ottoman probate inventories: a database in very long-term perspective

This article introduces a database of Ottoman probates and examines some of the methodological difficulties in very long-term analysis. Wealth statistics, spanning from 1460 to 1920 in the longest subsample, indicate an inverted U-shaped pattern that may signal the limits of extensive growth or “decline” as per the former Decline Paradigm. This pattern does not entirely match recent scholarship on the Ottoman Empire, however. Examining the effect of biases and changes in probate demography on wealth, we explore how real the observed wealth pattern is. We employ descriptive statistics, linear regression and Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition, and find that demographic composition matters but does not alter the shape of the wealth curve. Explanation for the gap between probate findings and current historiography, therefore, must lie elsewhere